Budget Travel - Last minute TGV tickets 50% off

Every Tuesday on the French railways website http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ you can get TGV (high speed train) tickets on selected routes for the following week at half price. You'll need to be able to read some French, but it's not too difficult to figure out. Click on the "Train -50% tous les Mardis" link on the right side under "Derniere Minute." You don't have to book on Tuesday, but the good routes/fares go quickly of course. They offer even cheaper fares with 3 months advance booking, but I usually don't plan ahead that far and like the last minute aspect better.

There are some good deals to be had on the TGV site. I once saw a fare of 15 euros from Paris CDG airport to Amsterdam.

Greg

There are some good deals to be had on the TGV site. I once saw a fare of 15 euros from Paris CDG airport to Amsterdam.

I wish the same was true of the JR (Japan Railways) site. The bullet trains in Japan cost $200-$300 rt, which often makes it more interesting to book package tours including hotel for less than the price of the train ticket alone, or the JR pass for visitors which allow unlimited travel for 1, 2, or 3 weeks. I guess that's the price to pay for reliability (no strikes/delays) and comfort (more space/every seat facing forwards).

This also applies to Thalys. Generally travel is restricted to off peak trains with very limited availabilty at weekends.

This also applies to Thalys. Generally travel is restricted to off peak trains with very limited availabilty at weekends.

Here's the Thalys link: http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/odm_vsc

Here's a link for TGV's discount page: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvKiosqueSelectionOD?_TMS=1143651592040&_DLG=SvKiosqueSelectionOD&_LANG=UK&_AGENCY=VSC

(Hopefully that TGV page link will work consistently - hope it's not specific to today's offers)

Thanks for the tip, this will be so handy for many of us.